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Three year deal, max value of $7.25, $1.675 guaranteed, $5 million in first 2 years.

Reported on Twitter by Schefter and some of the beat writers...

Wonder what the first year cap hit will be on this new deal compared to what we gave him in his RFA tender (since we only have $800K leeway right now until we get more cap room in June when the Willie Colon release becomes official)?

Yes, we should adjust the whole defensive system for Steve McClendon, a former undrafted free agent who was signed to a contract paying him at a level of an average to below average veteran starter.

No, we should change it because it no longer generates pressure and creates turnovers. McLendon would be just one of many who benefit from the willingness to change but it is unlikely to happen because of one person.

Playing Fantasy Football does not qualify you to be the in the front office or on the coaching staff of the Pittsburgh Steelers. They are professionals and you are not!

Wonder what the first year cap hit will be on this new deal compared to what we gave him in his RFA tender (since we only have $800K leeway right now until we get more cap room in June when the Willie Colon release becomes official)?

This has to put the Steelers perilously close to the cap. I suppose that a lot of the cap impact will be based on the incentives - the blurbs I saw had a max payout of $7.25 million, so it's possible that the guarantees are lower.

The Pittsburgh Steelers reached a three-year deal with nose tackle Steve McLendon, thanks to a nudge from the Green Bay Packers.

A day after McLendon visited the Packers, the Steelers struck a multiyear deal with the restricted free agent that's worth a maximum of $7.25 million and includes a $1.675 million signing bonus, according to the NFL Network.

The Steelers had other options -- like re-signing Casey Hampton or giving Alameda Ta'amu a shot to start -- but keeping McLendon was the best one. Hampton turns 36 by the time the season starts and Ta'amu is a risk considering his off-the-field issue.

McLendon, 27, is hitting the prime of his career and has shown the ability to step up when Hampton has been hurt. But the Steelers committed to McLendon more on projection than on production. He has one career start and played only 139 defensive snaps last season.

The Steelers could have avoided all of this drama if they had put a second-round tender on McLendon, which would have cost the team $700,000 more this offseason. Still, in the end, the Steelers likely would've reached a multiyear deal with him anyway. The interest from the Packers just sped up the process.